WARNING: Follow the App Scam Trail

Click on the above graphic for a larger view, and follow the trailOver the weekend I was contacted by a couple of people who had identified and been following a bunch of scam app developers, that are targeting the photo app category, as well as the none photo app category, both on the iPhone and iPad platform with their clone/duplicate apps. Whilst this is nothing new [we've reported here and here on fake and scam apps in the past], this scam looks bigger and deeper than any we've reported on before.

The list of scam/duplicate apps are all naff and generally unappealing, however for me, one conned person is one too many, and for this reason I'm highlighting the app developers that I know of so far, their apps, and how to spot these and other potential scam apps from this group/consortium.

So who are they, and what apps have they released so far? Well, below I have listed the developers that I am aware of so far, highlighting a couple of them and their apps. All exist in the US App Store, whilst only some of the developers and/or apps exist else where.

• AaaBe Media Group - Abstract Wings HD
• Adagio Media
• Apex Digit
• Autoalias Digital Co. - Art Wings
• Automax LLC
• Dan Lei Su - Artistic Wing Booth HD
• Mad Phone - Artistic Wings HD
• Ping Hau Luo
• Zhi Ming Bao

So, how to spot one of these scammers? Well, this appears to be the easy bit, as all the scam apps have the same price, are offered at a "TODAY" only price [that never changes], have lots of 5 star [fake] reviews and some 1 star reviews from people that have been conned, are listed as "Best APP by "Mac REALWorld" 2011" [which is a none existent website] and App Store "New and Worth" [notice the spelling errors], have identical app descriptions [see below] and the app support/website is an unfinished wordpress.com site.

"Artistic Wings HD is a magical app which can help you become an angel , a devil or an elf by only 3/4 steps.It provides lots of different wings to make your ordinary photo extraordinary."

"Wings HD is a magical app which can help you become an angel , a devil or an elf by only 3/4 steps.It provides lots of different wings to make your ordinary photo extraordinary."

"Abstract Wings HD is a magical app which can help you become an angel , a devil or an elf by only 3/4 steps.It provides lots of different wings to make your ordinary photo extraordinary."

So with these scam apps so easy to spot, how do they keep getting through the so called tough Apple approval process? Well, that's the question I'll be asking Apple's Phil Schiller.

So, you've been warned. Pass the word around, and avoid these apps and their developers like the plague.

Comments

[Sxethang]

Thank you for sharing! I was actually looking at that app a couple days ago. I decided not to buy it for that reason. I noticed that the developer changed. That was enough to keep me away.

[cm]

Not just photo apps, look closely, almost every single app by those developers is the same.

[Techno-nut]

Another set of scam apps, Auto Vintage Effect HD, Artistic Retro Camera HD, Antique Photo Fx HD, all,have exactly te same effects, slightly different interfaces, all have the same price and description. Additionally they are "bloatware" taking up huge amounts of space, adding insult to injury.

[Espekayen]

Apple's approval process is getting worse. It must be automated for these scam apps to be getting through all the time. And there needs to be a clear and simple process for customers to get refunds; the whole App Store experience is fully geared toward the purchase of apps with no obvious comeback for the customer if things go wrong and a refund is needed.

If Apple are to allow these scam apps through, then they need to accept full responsibility and offer refunds when customers get conned. There needs to be a clear process and Apple need to sort this out.

[Jilly]

I too have been scammed by these people! After spending much of a weekend doing research I made a list of all these apps and the developers. I also called Apple to report this scam and had the list of apps and developers ready to give them, they didn't seem to want to hear about it. They did however refund my money when I complained about "Auto Vintage Effect" which does not work! I look everyday in the app store and see these scam artists still there and coming out with new ones everyday. Somebody needs to stop these thieves!

[Adele]

Thanks very much Glyn - I have learned much from you, not only about iphoneography but also itechnology and being wise to scams. Your efforts are much appreciated.

[App User]

The insidious thing about these apps is that the duplicates are released about a month apart, so that some variant always appears in the new releases section, effectively saturating the category.

[bichonpawz]

Thank you so much for sharing this important information!! Let's put a stop to this before it goes any further!!

[Nick Rusko-Berger]

Reading this now, the timing's incredible: I was flipping through the iTunes store within the past week, and I noticed this very same scam thing. I did screen grabs of a couple of app listings and found them to be identical, but by different "developers".

I, too, was pretty surprised Apple let these slip by. Caveat emptor, huh?

cheers,
Nick

[App User]

Took a quick peak back in the App Store, and I see that most of the apps shown in the iPad photo category are from this company. Not just in the new releases section, but the actual top paid apps list too! Are their shill reviewers boosting the sales of the apps, knocking them to the top? Or are dozens of customers getting suckered. It's a shame.

[Eric]

Well, the 1 star reviews claim the app does what it says it does, the picture just didn't turn out the way they WANTED. So I'm failing to see what the *scam* is.

[Jilly]

In reply to Eric, the scam is duplicate apps, false ratings, fake sales and NO support! The app support websites take you to a blank blog and you have no way of contacting these people. Why are they hiding? They sell the exact same apps under different names. They list them as having won awards for "best app" by Apple which is false. The $4.99 - $2.99 sale "for today only only" is bait. And then the copyright infringement on other apps logos. They are all for iPad only and they do not work on an iPad! The good reviews I feel (and so do others) were written by friends to boost the ratings. People that actually purchased these apps will tell you it's a scam!

[Mulvaney18]

Unfortunately there are a number of apps out there that are filled with "five star" reviews but do not work or are so seriously flawed that they are useless. Large Aperture Pro (and other apps by the developer) come to mind. These days, five star reviews are more of a warning than a recommendation.

[Noel Chenier]

Happy to report that Apple appears to have taken note of this and removed the offending apps and developers from the store.
+1 to Apple for helping out honest developers trying to produce great apps.

For now.....
No doubt these scumbags will try again, so keep your eyes peeled and report any that reappear.

Thanks
Noel Chenier
www.learnphoto.ca/apps

[gara]

I'm just not an appaholic thus I've felt for a long while that there were many app descriptions that were merely similar or outright duplications of most other apps that I'd check out on the App Store or that I already had. So most of these types of apps read as basically what I had capability of doing with my photos already.
For me, an app must truly offer something different, intriguing, useful, and awesome. Otherwise, I don't need junky crap clogging up my "free space"... what little I have (which brings up a whole other ball of wax -- per Apple itself !!!)